Cedar City

The ride to Cedar City took us about an hour. We didn't see any other vehicles on the road there, in fact we didn't see anyone living or dead. The first little town we come to as we enter Cedar City is Enoch. My father lives in Enoch, so we headed to his house to see if he had survived the recent outbreak. We drove down the main street, the streets were littered with zombies. My heart began to sink, look how many people didn't make it, what if Tay and Mike hadn't made it? I shook the thought from my mind, they were both strong willed like me, and if I can survive they can too. I grew up in Enoch, so I recognized some of the undead as we passed. I pointed out certain members of the Church, and teachers that I had once hated. I couldn't hate them for what they had ever done to me now, now all I had to do was survive long enough to find Tay, and Mike. I turned down the street I grew up on. I almost felt a twinge of sadness as I looked at what it had become. Most of the houses were burnt or burning down. I pulled into my old driveway, but dad's car was not there. "He must be at work, I will have to try to call him when we get inside." I took the keys out of the ignition and reloaded my shotgun. I took a deep breath and James and I nodded at each, and stepped out of the car. "The back door is always unlocked." I started toward the back of the house. The zombies here were still slow, nothing like the crazed mob we had run from earlier. I opened the garage door and ushered James through, it was pitch black in the garage. I fumbled for the door knob to the house, finally finding it I opened it slowly for just in case. Light was streaming in through the open windows. I took the safety of my gun and began searching the rooms. From the looks of his house it seems he left in a hurry. I began to get hopeful that someone in my family might still be alive. Last we searched the basement. When I had left the basement was unfinished. I moved out of my fathers house when I was 16 years old, though. Dad had apparently finished the basement and had equipped it for a nuclear bomb strike. He had placed heavy metal slats over the windows and built a huge metal door at the foot of the stairs. There was a room filled with canned goods and emergency water supplies. He had a generator installed, that ran off the heat that was created by his wood burning stove. The man was a genius I had to hand it too him. We could survive months down here, but why did he leave? He had a computer hardwired in one of the corners, with backup batteries in case of a power outage. I accidentally bumped it as I was walking past to check to make sure the windows were latched. The screen clicked on with a family picture from when I was 13 or 14. Dad had left a document open on the desktop, it read:
To whom it may concern,
You are welcome to my supplies and my home, all that I ask is that you open the door when I get back. I am off to St George to find my youngest daughter. If I should not return, then I only ask you replenish the stores, and keep the place clean, so that other survivors may use this room as a safe haven from the growing horrors of the end of the world. God be with us.
Michael Kelly
His words brought tears to my eyes, even in a zombie apocalypse he wants to try to help others. He truly was the most amazing person I know. "So this is a safehouse." James grabbed a piece of paper and began drawing a crude drawing of a house with a + sign in it. "Do you think your dad would mind if I spray painted this on the garage door?" I looked at James for a moment, realization growing on my face, he was right my father was right this whole thing is bigger than just my family. We had to at least try to help our fellow Americans, if there was anyone left, if there were survivors, we were going to need as much help as we could get. "We have some work we have to do." I grabbed James's drawing and headed for the big metal door. In the garage we found some orange spray paint cans. Outside we took turns one person sprayed a very large "safehouse" symbol on the white garage door, while the other person kept watch over the zombies. As soon as it was finished, the sun was sinking low in the sky, so we headed in to spread the word of the Enoch Safehouse. Strangely the internet was still up, so we were able to see what was going on in the world. There were reports of the dead coming back to life, and that people should stay in their houses, and try to avoid all contact with the infected, the usual warnings that associate a zombie outbreak. There was no news on what caused the viral outbreak, but scientists announced that there would be no cure, and there is no vaccine, because the virus mutated so quickly. Dad had a webcam, so instead of typing I decided to do a video tour of the safehouse.
"Hi, my name is Amber Ruth, I am a survivor. If you are close to the or in the Enoch area, there is a safehouse. Look for the safehouse symbol on the garage door. (I zoomed in on the crude drawing James had made) We have food (I showed the store room) and Safety (I showed the metal window slats, and large metal door) If you are in the area and need a place to stop for the night, please don't hesitate, There is enough here to last for months. All we ask is that you keep it clean, and if you can leave something of use behind with you, so that the next person might find it useful." After a moment pause I added, "Good luck out there."
I uploaded this video to youtube, and within 2 hours I had 16,000 hits. Not long after, we heard the back door to the house opening. James looked at me "Do you think zombies can open doors?" Before I could answer, someone was knocking at our big metal door. I looked at James with surprise as I grabbed my hatchet and headed to the door. "Are you infected?" I asked knowing it was a stupid question as soon as it left my lips. "No" replied a timid voice. I pulled the heavy metal door open to reveal a group of about 7 survivors huddled together in the stairwell. "We saw your video online, is it really safe in here?" I stepped aside allowing the ragged group to enter. The timid voice belonged to a little old lady who looked about 75, she smiled at me and held her hand out to me. "I'm Nelda" she said as she shook my hand, she had a surprisingly strong grip for a little old lady, she was a little shorter than me. "I'm Amber" I said as I smiled and shook her hand. I was surprised to see this many survivors.